There's Good News, and Better News

Is this us making better decisions?

Here is a brief recap of what we've seen in this week's news--and let me just say that I am pleased to report only certain news (kind of like Fox, except mine is positive) this week that actually points to the fact that we, as a society, might actually be making better decisions as far as where we're putting our money right now. Some newsbreaks and heartbreaks (Ford) are both indicating that perhaps America is moving toward better long-term decisions and infrastructure.

Big Companies Posting Losses I could spend the rest of this post listing the stated losses for large Wall Street firms, but the upshot is that these losses are currently resulting from large companies that dealt in action-rate-securities, who are now literally taking back their debts. CitiGroup, UBS, and HSBC have all agreed (perhaps under the judgmental eye of the New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, to literally give back huge portions to securities. This means that some municipalities could see a bolster in their values, and is a good sign that the firms will be held, at least to some degree, accountable for this mess.

Citizens Accidentally More Green Also this week, as reported by BusinessWeek and WSJ, even thoug gas prices dropped a few cents, Amtrack ridership increased by 13.9% in July, which means that more Americans are using this as a commuting-solution, and probably as a cheaper way to vacation around the US. Similarly, Honda posted a Q2 rise in profits due to its sale of hybrid and gas-efficient vehicles. I hate that Ford is having difficulties, but I do like to see that we're placing our expendable dollars in a car company that not only manufactires but also exports from the US, and which has a toehold in truly new technology that could change the face of modern transportation. Says last week's WSJ, in the "What's News" section: "BMW's and Daimler's latest sales figures reflect the shift among consumers to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars."

Fannie and Freddie are Put on a Lobbying Leash
While the jury is still out on whether Fannie and Freddie will be allowed to continue lobbying to US legislators, the press is now acknowledging that there is a serious incongruity between what Fannie and Freddie do (buy mortgages on behalf of the government) and who gets stuck with the bill (the US people). Thank goodness. I highlighted a sketchy solution a few weeks ago in this post as was noted by a unanimous Economist article. But I did not think that they might ever be cut off from the lobbyists...It may be a new day yet!

Stay tuned for next week's developments which are sure to be as complicated as this week's!